Xueyan Zuqin
Xueyan Zuqin
1216 – 1287
Xueyan Zuqin (雪巖祖欽, 1216–1287) was a Yangqi-line Linji master of the late Southern Song and the principal teacher of Gaofeng Yuanmiao, through whom his approach to *huatou* / *kanhua* practice passed into the early-Yuan curriculum that would shape both later Chinese Linji and Japanese Rinzai training[1]. He trained under Wuzhun Shifan at Jingshan and taught at several monasteries before settling at Mount Yang and Mount Xueyan in modern Hubei[2].
Xueyan's teaching is best preserved in the *Xueyan Zuqin Heshang Yulu* and in Gaofeng's autobiographical *Cān Chán Jiào Bīng* (參禪箴), which records his teacher's emphasis on the triad of "great faith, great determination, and great doubt" (大信根, 大憤志, 大疑情) as the prerequisites of *huatou* investigation — a formula that became canonical in the later Linji house and was carried into Japan through Nanpo Jōmin and his Daiō-Daitō-Kanzan successors[3].
Names
Disciples of Xueyan Zuqin
Teachers and lineage of Xueyan Zuqin
Teacher / root master:
Teachings
- dialogueXueyan Tests a Student
A monk came to Xueyan and said, "I have come from a distant province specifically to receive your teaching." Xueyan said, "Why did you leave where you were?" The monk said, "To seek the Dharma." Xueyan said, "The Dharma in your home province—was it deficient somehow?" The monk was speechless. Xueyan said, "You have traveled a thousand miles carrying a load that was never yours to begin with. Put it down."
Other masters in Yangqi line
Master Record Sources
- datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
1216-1287
- nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Xueyan Zuqin
- schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Yangqi line
- teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation
Wuzhun Shifan